Orville Peck

Orville Peck
File:Orville Peck by Alfred Marroquín, December 2020.png Peck in a short film directed by Alfred Marroquín in December 2020
Background information
Born	Johannesburg, South Africa
Origin	Canada
Genres	Country alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2017–present
Labels	Columbia Sub Pop
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Orville Peck is a South African country musician based in Canada. He wears a fringed mask and has never shown his face publicly. He released his debut album Pony in 2019, followed by the EP Show Pony the next year. His second studio album Bronco was released on April 8, 2022.

Early life

Peck was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and lived there until he was 15. As a child, Peck taught himself music by playing on an acoustic guitar and an old Casio keyboard. He is the son of a sound engineer, and he did voice-over work for cartoons and other media as a child. Growing up, he trained in ballet for 12 years, and performed in musical theatre. By the time he was in his early 20s, Peck had been on national tours of musicals.

In his mid-20s, he moved to London to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and later starred in a play on the West End.

Career

"Orville Peck" is a pseudonym; he has been described as "presumably older than 20 and younger than 40".

Peck self-produced his debut album, Pony, and released it in 2019 through a collaboration with Sub Pop. He has noted that he "wrote, produced and played every instrument he could" on the album while working in a coffee shop and living with his parents. In June of that year, he performed his songs "Dead of Night" and "Take You Back" live on CBC Radio One's Q. Pony was named to the initial longlist for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize in June 2019. The album also received a Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020.

Peck performed "Dead of Night" on Jimmy Kimmel Live on January 29, 2020. He also announced a tour of selected cities in the United States, including performances at the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals.

In May 2020, Peck announced the follow-up to his debut album, an EP titled Show Pony, with a release date of June 12, 2020. In July, 2020, Peck announced the delayed release of Show Pony until August 14, 2020, in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing protests against police brutality in the United States.

Peck recorded a cover of "Smalltown Boy" for the 2020 Pride edition of the Spotify Singles series. The song was released exclusively on Spotify on June 29, 2020, and everywhere else on July 31, 2020.

In April 2021, Peck was featured on American drag queen and singer Trixie Mattel's EP, Full Coverage, Vol. 1. He appeared on the song "Jackson", a duet cover of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's "Jackson." In June, he was revealed to be the sixth artist on Lady Gaga's upcoming album Born This Way The Tenth Anniversary, with Peck reimagining the song "Born This Way" in a country style.

Identity speculations

Sources have speculated that Peck is a persona of Daniel Pitout, drummer of the Canadian punk band Nü Sensae, based on the similarity of Peck's tattoos, as well as Peck mentioning that he was in a punk band. Pitout was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, as was Peck. Pitout also starred as a replacement in Peter Pan Goes Wrong in the West End in 2016, which lines up with Peck mentioning he was in a West End play while he lived in London. Peck has not confirmed his identity on the record. Pitout is listed by ASCAP as the songwriter for Peck's song "Old River" and other songs that match the titles of the songs released by Peck, such as "Roses Are Falling".

Personal life

Peck is gay. Regarding his reasons for wearing a mask to perform, Peck has stated that "the only reason I don't talk about it in depth is not because I want to dodge any questions, but because I want people to have their own take on it. I don't want to lay it out and pin it down. I just don't think that's important." Regarding his nationality, he stated in 2022 that "[e]veryone thinks I'm Canadian because I lived in Canada for a long time, but I'm not. I was born in South Africa—I grew up in Johannesburg until I was 15. I never talked about where I was from only because I wanted to wait—obviously, I'm a man of mystery and I like to not give everyone everything all at once... I'm so proud to be South African. I go back there all the time."

Awards and honors

Year	Award	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Category	Result	Ref.
2019	Polaris Music Prize	Pony	Album of the Year	Longlisted
2020	Libera Awards	Orville Peck	Breakthrough Artist	Won
		Pony	Album of the Year	Nominated
			Best Country Album	Won
		"Dead of Night"	Video of the Year	Nominated
	Juno Awards	Pony	Alternative Album of the Year	Nominated
2021	GLAAD Media Awards	Show Pony	Outstanding Breakthrough Artist	Nominated
	Queerty Awards	"Summertime"	Indie Music Vid	Nominated
2022		"Born This Way"	Anthem	Nominated
	Tom of Finland Foundation	Orville Peck	Cultural Icon Award	Won

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".

In June 2022, Peck was presented with the Cultural Icon Award by the Tom of Finland Foundation, "for artistic achievement and immeasurable contributions to the art and culture of our community", an award previously presented to Rob Halford, Henry Rollins, Clive Barker and John Waters.

Discography

Orville Peck discography
Studio albums	2
Music videos	14
EPs	3
Singles	9

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		SCO	UK Amer.	UK DL	UK Cou.	US	US Cou.	US Folk	US Indie	US Rock
Pony	Released: March 22, 2019 Label: Sub Pop Format: CD, LP, cassette, digital download, streaming	—	8	—	—	—	—	—	27	—
Bronco	Released: April 8, 2022 Label: Columbia, Sub Pop Format: LP, digital download, streaming	22	18	3	3	80	11	4	—	13

Extended plays

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		UK Amer.	UK DL	US Cou.	US Folk	US Rock	US Sales
Show Pony	Released: August 14, 2020 Label: Columbia, Sub Pop Format: vinyl, digital download, streaming	8	17	46	8	50	20
Bronco: Chapter 1	Released: February 11, 2022 Label: Columbia, Sub Pop Format: Streaming	—	—	—	—	—	—
Bronco: Chapters 1 & 2	Released: March 11, 2022 Label: Columbia, Sub Pop Format: Streaming	—	—	—	—	—	—

Singles

As lead artist

Title	Year	Album
"Big Sky"	2018	Pony
"Dead of Night"	2019
"Turn to Hate"
"Summertime"	2020	Show Pony
"No Glory in the West"
"Smalltown Boy" (Spotify Singles)		Non-album singles
"Unchained Melody"/"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (as The Unrighteous Brothers with Paul Cauthen)
"Born This Way" (The Country Road Version)	2021	Born This Way The Tenth Anniversary
"Miss Chatelaine" (Iron Hoof Remix) (with k. d. lang)		Non-album single

As featured artist

Title	Year	Album
"Jackson" (Trixie Mattel featuring Orville Peck)	2021	Full Coverage, Vol. 1

Music videos

Title	Year	Director	Ref.
"Big Sky"	2018	Deni Cheng
"Dead of Night"	2019	Michael Maxxis
"Turn to Hate"		Orville Peck Carlos Santolalla
"Hope to Die"		Blake Mawson
"Nothing Fades Like the Light"		Deni Cheng
"Queen of the Rodeo"	2020	Austin Peters
"Summertime"		Drew Kirsch Taylor Fauntleroy
"No Glory in the West"		Isaiah Seret
"Legends Never Die" (featuring Shania Twain)		Cameron Duddy
"Jackson" (with Trixie Mattel)	2021	Assaad Yacoub
"C'mon Baby, Cry"	2022	Austin Peters
"Daytona Sand"
"The Curse of the Blackened Eye"
"Hexie Mountains"

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2021	The Boulet Brothers' Dragula	Guest judge	Season 4, episode 3
2021	This Is Pop	Host	Season 1, episode 5
2022	Trixie Motel	Guest	Episode 3